November Newsletter

November 12, 2013

As the weather is now getting colder and there is less sunlight, I am pleased to look around and see all of our programs in full swing.  Students are enjoying their academic programs and enrichment programs that range from cooking to board games.

Recess- The winter season is upon us.  I would like to remind you to send your children to school dressed appropriately for outside recess. Coats, hats and gloves are very important. We will always go outside for recess unless it is dangerously cold. If recess is canceled, please understand that it was canceled due to rain, snow or health recommendations only. It is our belief that students need physical activity and fresh air and therefore we send the children outside for recess in the winter.

Vacations- We have had an inordinate number of families requesting work for students that are taking vacations during times when school is in session. I want to take this opportunity to remind the members of our school community that it is not the school’s responsibility to provide instruction to your child/children during the time you are away from school and that Massachusetts State Law requires your child be in school when school is in session.

Morning Drop off- Just as friendly reminder relative to our morning drop off.

1.       Drop off children at the side rotary.

2.       Pull all the way up to the end of the sidewalk before letting your child out.

3.       Let your child out opposite the driver’s side, only.

4.       Do not get out of the car yourself.

5.       Please remain in your car and move forward once your child exits the car, in order to keep the line moving. For safety reasons, it is important that you follow this procedure. 

6.       The morning drop off is designed for a single lane of cars. Please do not exit the rotary until the car in front of you has pulled away.

The 5th Annual North Reading Turkey Trot, November 28, 2013- The 5th Annual North Reading Turkey Trot is scheduled to go off at 8:00 A.M. sharp on Thanksgiving Day.  The elementary school challenge is on again this year and the Batchelder School is looking to retain the title! I am encouraging all of our families to be part of this community event. It is our goal to unseat the defending elementary school challenge champions and bring the coveted trophy to our lobby! The elementary school in North Reading that has the highest percentage of participation will earn the trophy to display in their school for the year and the $200.00 prize to be used toward the purchase of fitness equipment in their school. This event is sponsored by the NRHS Hornets Hall of Fame; proceeds benefit the student athletes of North Reading. Come out to work up an appetite. Please contact Joe Davis at jdavis@north-reading.k12.ma.us if you have any questions. See you Thanksgiving morning! Registration is now underway on-line at: www.northreadingturkeytrot.com

At the school we are observing an increase in the frequency of tardiness. Please be mindful that our official start time is 8:55. Research stresses the need for students to get to school and class on time and with good reason. Studies conducted by the U.S. Department of Education on truancy, which is connected with tardiness, show that school attendance is a major factor when it comes to school success and student behavior.

• Problems with Tardiness: The most crucial learning hours of a school day are the morning hours, because they are when students are most attentive. Students who are tardy miss the beginning of their morning classes, and they also cause a distraction when they arrive late to class.
• Academics and Achievement: Students who are frequently tardy have lower GPAs, lower scores on standardized assessments, and lower graduation rates. Chronic tardiness in elementary and middle school is also linked to failure in high school.
• Behavior Problems: In the National Center for Education Statistics Indicators of School Crime and Safety, teachers surveyed reported that students who are frequently tardy have higher rates of suspension and other disciplinary measures. Tardiness causes students to feel disconnected with school, leading to behavior problems and dropouts. Students who are frequently tardy to school are also more apt to be fired from a job for showing up late.
  
  

Our School is a great school with bright students and involved parents. By refocusing our efforts on being on time each day, we can be even better.

As always, thank you for your continued support!

References:

National Center for Education Statistics: Indicators of School Safety Report; US Department of Education: Truancy Report; US Department of Education: Manual to Combat Truancy

September News

September 18, 2013

Dear Members of the J. Turner Hood School Community,

We’re back! The 2013-2014 school year is under way!  The pitter patter of more than 350 pairs of feet (all sizes) was heard throughout the hallways as your children went to their classrooms.  Their faces were bright with big smiles and a general feeling of excitement prevailed throughout the entire school building.  Thank you for preparing them so well for a wonderful beginning to our school year. I look forward to working with the children, teachers and parents this year to meet exciting challenges and fulfill our shared goals for student growth.

Our building looks beautiful, thanks to the monumental efforts of Mr. Geary, Mr. Enos & Mr. Kalitka. I would also like to thank Mrs. String for her work to insuring a smooth school opening.

“Hand & Hand Together We Can”

Many new members to our school community have asked? “What is the relevance of all of the hand’s that I see throughout the building?” Our motto continues to be “Hand & Hand Together We Can.”  We believe that by collaboratively working together throughout the entire school community to ensure that the highest levels of student learning take place. 

SRR-I have also been asked “What are SRR Behaviors?” At the J. Turner Hood School we focus on our SRR Behaviors. Our SRR Rules are;

Safe

Responsible

Respectful

Get Connected! This year is the year to go green! Our school website is a great resource. We hope that you will find the information that is posted on our website to be valuable to you and your children. I have shifted to utilizing electronic communications for all school related communications. Please check our site often as there are always things going on. The J. Turner Hood School is proud of the cooperative relationship that we have with our families and the community as a whole. We hope this website will be another way of us staying connected with all of you. Please be reminded that our website offers an up to date calendar of school activities. Please click on the School Events header in order to view a monthly school calendar. In order to increase communications from my office to the school community I have created a Principal’s Blog and the 180 Days of Learning Blog. These blogs can be accessed in the staff directory. Furthermore, many of our staff have taken the dive into the digital world. Our staff directory has been updated and provides links to many classroom websites where more information can be obtained. Please be advised that we as a faculty are also experimenting with Twitter. I have been “tweeting” pictures from and information about various school events. Please follow the Hood School on Twitter   @jthoodelemen If you are not following us, you have missed almost 890 tweets.

Staff of the Month- Just a reminder that the Staff of the Month nominations are located under the principal’s corner tab on the school website. Please feel free to complete that document. This will enable me to help recognize our staff for going above and beyond.

A special thank you to our Hood School PA for all of their work this year. The Parent’s Association is a very important group that supports the J. Turner Hood School Community in many, many, unseen ways. THANK YOU!!!

Wishing you all a happy, successful and rewarding school year,

Mr. Glen S. McKay, Principal

Lessons from a Skateboarder- A Thought Provoking TED

Click the Link Below;

Lessons From a Skateboarder

I found a lot of interesting points during the video.

- To be willing to learn, you must be willing to fail.
- Learning “hurts” sometimes.
- There are times and skills that you cannot quantify with grades. Either you can do a trick or you cannot, there are no “C+” scores in skateboarding.
- As educators, we pay a lot of attention to what happens in our buildings. Maybe we can learn something about what happens outside our walls.

Join the Tribe & Enjoy a TED Talk

Join the Tribe & Enjoy a TED Talk

The other day, I caught myself sending an email to the faculty of the Hood School. The subject line read "Growth Mindset TED Talk."
The email provided the link to an 11-minute video of a gentleman named Eduardo Briceño speaking about one of my favorite topics, the growth mindset. In my personal and professional life, I frequently reference TED Talks. Each of the emails that I send or discussions that I have about this site and it’s content is a way of issuing a membership card into the club of "TED talk people.” I love being a member of this club. The videos give me a glimpse into an interesting topic or provide me with a new intellectual discovery. But just as important, each one I see or recommend makes me part of a group of millions of folks around the world who have checked out these videos. What links us is our desire to learn; TEDsters feel part of a curious, engaged, enlightened, and tech-savvy tribe.

What is a TED Talk?

By now most everyone has heard of the TED Talks. TED is a non-profit organization whose mission is to “spread ideas.” TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design and started in 1984 as a conference where innovations in the three areas above were presented. With the advent of the Internet and new ownership, TED has taken off. A roster of speakers that runs from Bill Clinton to J.J. Abrams, from Desmond Tutu to Isabel Allende have presented. Their topics range from biophysics to graphic design, covering all that Roman playwright Terentius might have had in mind when he said, "Nothing human is alien to me."

TED is a great place to learn, in fact if you were starting a top university today, it might look similar to the TED format. TED has gathered the very best minds from around the world, from every discipline and shared their work. Since we're living in an age of abundant, not scarce, information, they have curated the lectures of the best minds carefully and covered a vast array of topics.

One individual with whom my stakeholders are very well acquainted with and whom I have written about previously is Sir Kenneth Robinson. Sir Ken has delivered several insightful talks. As a start, I suggust you check out his TED Talks. He has a very dry wit and insightful comments that help us  understand that we can always do better and we always need to do better for our kids and our collective future.

Since its launch, ted.com has added over 1,100 talks. the most popular TED-conference talks, plus TED-approved talks from other conferences and events. Collectively, the TED Talks have been viewed more than 500 million times. If you want to learn more on a vast array of topics please visit www.ted.com. Also, “There’s an app for that.”

Preventing the Summer Slide

June 21, 2013

Dear Hood School Parents,

                Summer vacation immediately sparks visions of beaches and barbeques. But, while your children are creating precious memories through fun and games, they could be losing the reading gains that they acquired during the previous school year if they do not continue to read throughout the summer.  

                Preventing the “summer slide” is a concern of all educators as we move into the summer months.   I cannot encourage you enough to establish smart summer reading habits for your children when you consider the compelling reading research that overwhelming supports the importance of every child reading on a daily basis over the summer.  One study revealed that children could lose up to three months of the reading gains that they acquired during the school year if they do not read or have someone read to them over the summer.  Another study found that reading just five to ten books over the summer can prevent reading loss!  Perhaps the most alarming research found that struggling readers lose more ground over the summer than proficient readers if they do not engage in summer reading practices, and those losses create a wider gap between proficient readers and struggling readers.  By the time these struggling readers reach middle school, summer reading loss can accumulate to a two-year lag in reading achievement! 

                 By immersing your entire family in activities that involve reading, parents can create enthusiastic readers. Providing a print rich environment, being a reading role model for your children, and promoting a love of reading will lessen the “summer reading slide”, as well as ease the transition back to school in the fall.

                Here are just a few of the many ways parents can “nurture and nudge” their children into rewarding reading habits this upcoming summer.

                * Enroll your children in the Flint Memorial Library’s free summer reading program, “Dig Into Reading!”  This theme kicks-off on Monday, June 24^th with the making of a mural to hang in the library.  A special reading incentive offered by the library again this year involves reading 10 hours by August 9^th .  Children who read the required number of minutes between June 24^th and August 9^th earn a free admission ticket to the 2013 Topsfield Fair with a free entrance pass, 2 rides, and a hot dog and drink. At the end of the summer the library will be celebrating summer reading with an ice cream social, so be sure to check out that impending date at the library.

                * Visit the Hood School’s website for suggested summer reading books.  The town’s three elementary reading specialists and the children’s town librarian worked together to compile these titles for you to read to your child, with your child, or for your child to read on their own.

                 

* Enroll your child in the Red Sox Summer Reading Game sponsored by the Massachusetts Teacher’s Association to promote literacy.  Massachusetts’ children, from kindergarten through grade 8, who pledge to read nine books and then submit their pledge cards, will be entered into a drawing to win a family pack of 4 tickets to a Red Sox game at Fenway Park.  Entries must be postmarked by July 12, 2013 to be entered into the drawing.  (Pledge cards were available in the Hood School’s lobby during Open House and are still available for pick-up on the bench in the lobby.)

                * Another summer freebie to take advantage of is to sign your children up for “Barnes & Noble Annual Summer Reading Program:  Imagination’s Destination” where they can read their way to a free book by reading and recording eight books on Barnes & Noble’s reading journal.  For further details visit www.bn.com/summerreading .  This Barnes & Noble website includes book recommendations, their summer reading journal, and a summer reading kit.  

                * Visit www.salemstate.edu/education/mcba/ for a comprehensive recommended list of recommended reading.  This website includes all the winners of the Massachusetts Children’s Book Awards for 2012 which were voted on by all Massachusetts’ fourth graders.

               

                * Start a summer book club with your children and their friends and parents.  Forming a book club is a fun, social way to encourage summer reading with follow-up discussions for parents and children alike.

                * Create book baskets for the whole family and have them readily available around the house or ready to travel.   Make it fun and include newspapers, comic books, children’s magazines, and crossword puzzles.

                Remember, your primary goal is to keep your children reading throughout the summer.  Look for fun ways to celebrate your family reading as you continue to promote a love of reading.

                Last, but not least, I will be looking forward once again to Hood School families sending in their favorite candid summer photo(s) of your children and/or family reading.  These photos will be showcased on the Hood School’s “Celebration of Summer Reading” bulletin board in the lobby when your children return to school in September.  Please drop off a hard copy of your photo(s) at the Hood during the month of August or mail it to the school any time in August.  Please remember to include your child’s name, new grade level, and new classroom teacher with your photo.  It would be greatly appreciated if all photos could be mailed, or dropped off to the Hood School office, by August 16^th so that the bulletin board is completed to welcome everybody back to school in September.                                                                                                         

Happy Reading!  

Susan B. Hegarty

Susan B. Hegarty, M.Ed.

Reading Specialist

J. T. Hood School